Rest, Relaxation, and Romance at The Wilderness Lodge

[NHKristy76]

Welcome to my PreTrip Report that will very soon transition into a real live trip report!

WHO:

Me: I'm Kristy and I'm a 36 year old certified Disneyaholic. This will be my 15th trip to Walt Disney World and my third within the last 12 months. I convinced my husband that it was a good idea to get annual passes this year (trips booked for August and January so it just made good sense!) and now I'm doing my very best to get the most out of the passes.

DH: Eric is a 37 year old Disney enabler. He likes our Disney vacations but does not dream about Disney or ever really say, "Hey. Let's take a trip to Disney World!" Now this could be because I am always scheming for ways to get down to Lake Buena Vista so he doesn't really get the chance.

WHEN:
Nov 25- 28th

WHERE:
Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort

WHY:
Do we need a reason to go to the Wilderness Lodge during the Christmas season? Probably not but the answer does show just how obsessed I am... We planned our wedding for November 26th (13 years ago!) so that we could spend our 15 day honeymoon at The Wilderness Lodge during the holiday season without the extreme crowds known to descend upon The World later in December.


So this story really begins back in August as we were wrapping up our first ever summer vacation at Disney's Beach Club Resort. I was telling Eric that I would LOVE to find a way to come back, just the two of us, for a short anniversary trip. He just looked at me and shook his head without saying a word. When there weren't any good bounceback offers available for the right time frame, I let the idea go. (Well... not entirely) By late September I had been trolling the web looking for deals on flights and hotels and finally found a match for our favorite Southwest flights and a cheapo room at Pop Century. We've never stayed at Pop so I thought it might be a good plan. I was shocked when my husband agreed AND took it on his own to arrange for my inlaws to come and stay at our house, with our daughter and puppy, so we could run away together!

After I made the reservation, I started having serious reservations about Pop Century. I'm sure it's a fine resort (I don't mind the All Stars one bit...) but it did not feel like the "right" place for a relaxing, romantic getaway. So I started looking at the idea of renting points at VWL or even AKL but that didn't quite work out... So then I started talking to Eric about making the switch over to our precious Wilderness Lodge. At first he was annoyed ("Why can't you just be happy with Pop?") and then something magical happened.... I think he realized that a wife who feels relaxed and comfortable just might be more fun on a romantic vacation! So he said, go ahead.. take my credit card and change to the Lodge!

I called WDW Travel Co right away and got quite possibly the nicest and friendliest Cast Member of all time on the phone. (I wish I had remembered to write down her name... I'm so bummed!) We chatted for almost 30 minutes about Disney World, our honeymoon, and our 13th anniversary trip. During this conversation she said... "Hmm. There are many concierge level rooms available during your stay..." And I sighed and said, "Oh how I wish I could book one of those! I just can't make the dollars stretch that far but I will be more than happy just cuddling with my DH in the lobby with a cup of hot chocolate!" She laughed and said, "Well. I'm going to see what I can do!" and then told me that she has tried, but could not guarantee, to get us an extra special concierge room. I literally almost fell off the couch! Now I know that it's not guaranteed, she made that very clear, but said that the CMs at the WL "love a good love story" and will do everything they can to "blow your minds!"

Will we get an upgrade? Will it be to one of the most magical honeymoon suites in all the land? We do not yet know but we DO know that we will soon be basking in the glow from that glorious Christmas tree and sipping hot chocolate as we cuddle on the couch!

 

[NHKristy76]

Chapter 1 : Pre Trip Plans
Chapter 2: 12 Hours To Go!
Chapter 3: Day 1 - Welcome Home!

 

[NHKristy76]

Day 1, Sunday November 25
We will arrive in Orlando at approximately 10am via a direct Southwest flight. We will board the Magical Express and my best guess has us at the Wilderness Lodge by noon.

My plan is to do a lunch at the Whispering Canyon and take some time to really soak in the resort. At some point, and I don't have any timeframe in mind for this, we will make our way over to the Animal Kingdom for the evening.

Day 2, November 26
Happy Anniversay To Us!!

Since this is the No Rope Drop Ever vacation, we will sleep in and take our time getting ready and having breakfast (hopefully in the concierge lounge!)

We'll probably head over to Epcot today and wander around. If it's warm enough midafternoon, we'll probably head back to The Lodge and go for a swim and relax. I'm planning to head over to Hollywood Studios for the evening to take in one of our favorites, The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. When the park closes, we'll likely head back to our The Lodge and hopefully catch the Electric Water Pageant before calling it a night.

Day 3, November 27

I think we'll start the day, after a leisurely morning at The Lodge of course, at Hollywood Studios. Of course, if we are able to do RnR and ToT the night before we might just head over to spend the morning in Animal Kingdom and the afternoon at the Magic Kingdom instead. We might go to MVMCP but only if the weather is perfect, the mood strikes us, and, of course, if there are still tickets available. I'd like to spend some time checking out the Christmas decorations at the resorts as well so this might happen tonight instead of MVMCP...

Day 4, November 28
Departure Day

The Sad Bus should pick us up at about 3:30 today. I promise not to get too upset though because we'll be back for 8 days with the whole family in January.

We might go to the Magic Kingdom but I wouldn't count on it folks!

We will likely spend the entire day relaxing at The Lodge today. I want to soak it all in - swim, shop, and sit by the fire, and look longingly at the Christmas tree.



As you can tell, this trip is all about The Three R's... Rest, Relaxation, and Romance. Oh and the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[NHKristy76]

We are now exactly 12 hours from our departure...

We had a nice Thanksgiving type meal with my inlaws today (we spent the actual Thanksgiving holiday with my family.) We hung out for awhile and chatted before leaving Allison with her grandparents. I expected her to be bummed out but she was actually quite sad, and dare I say a bit scared, about us leaving her behind. In recent days she's been talking a bit about plane crashes, although never about us specifically in a crash, but I know that's been on her mind.

I held it together while we said our long goodbyes but once Eric and I were in the car, I started crying too! I know this will be a good thing for us, and for her, but the goodbyes are tough. The only time we left her was when she was 2 and she was far too young to realize what was really going on...

So now we are home... wrapping up the last of the laundry and relaxing. We've got a frozen pizza in the oven and we'll be off to bed early tonight. Our flight leaves Manchester, NH at 6:45am so the alarm will be going off mighty early!

 

[married2mm]

happy anniversary.

hope you have a wonderful time.
looking forward to reading more.

 

[pld5]

Happy Anniversary! I love the WL and we are planning our trip in February to be a mix of Rest/Relaxation and Celebration of my son's 7th birthday......so probably not a lot of romance.

I hope your trip is a perfect mixture of the 3 R's! Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[Shazzasmd]

Happy Anniversary and safe travels!

 

[NHKristy76]

Day 1 - Sunday, November 25th

We were up and out of the house at 5:09am - so very early! The great part about flying out of Manchester (vs Boston) is the no hassle. We were through security and at the gate by 5:45am. I was chosen for a pat down because they saw something abnormal on my stomach. I do not like to be touched so this was very uncomfortable but, thankfully, it was over quickly. We had a perfectly uneventful flight down via Southwest. I read a book on my Kindle and Eric mostly listened to iPod and played Angry Birds on his phone. The flight landed a little bit early and we made our way to the Happy Bus!

Our bus was a plain old yellow Mears bus and I was a bit sad. But just a bit because it was still taking me to the Wilderness Lodge! It could have been a broken down 1985 Ford Escort and I still would have been beaming! We loaded onto the bus at about 10:15 and were pulling away from the curb at 10:23am. Not bad! The bus driver, Bill Murphy, was quite simply the BEST driver we have ever had. He talked almost the entire way and shared lots of jokes and Disney facts. The ride felt very short thanks to his antics! One of the bits of info he shared was particularly interesting. He said that on the day we arrived, as well as the following two days, there would be 3x as many people leaving as arriving. He said they had 3100 people coming in to WDW and more than 9,000 departing EACH day. Wow! I knew the crowds were going to drop, they always do, but hearing those numbers made it sound much more impressive.

The Wilderness Lodge was the first stop and we were SO hoping that our dream of an upgrade to Concierge Level would come true. We chatted with the CM and told her it was our anniversary, she said she saw that in the notes, and gave us anniversary buttons. She told us that our room was ready and directed us to 5109. No CL for us! But you can't be sad for long at the Wilderness Lodge (it's a rule!) so we gathered up the brochures and our carryons and took off for the room. The room was spotless and we had a pretty decent view of the brook that leads to the pool...

We were hungry and after looking at the new Whispering Canyon menu, we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom. We grabbed lunch at Flametree BBQ and it was SO yummy! I had the turkey sandwich with fries and Eric had the pulled pork sandwich. It was a quick and very tasty way to start our trip. After lunch we walked over to Kilimanjaro Safaris and found that the line was literally out of the que. We have NEVER seen it so busy and noted that the posted wait time was 20 minutes. There is NO way that was accurate so I asked the CM and he said that the giraffes and rhinos were having fun blocking the roads today. So we pulled fast passes and took a walk through the Pangani Forest. The gorillas were awesome and we spent a long time just watching them hunt for treats that their handlers had hidden around their space.When we finished with the trail, it was almost time for our Safari. We sat and waited for a bit and talked to a couple who were waiting for their ride as well. The safari was fun and we were delayed a bit on our trip due to some curious giraffes. Our CM had a very dry sense of humor and kept us laughing throughout the entire 2 week adventure.

We then rode on Everest 3x, took in the Finding Nemo show (our favorite!), rode Dinosaur, and took in It's Tough To Be A Bug. Somewhere in there we also enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Yak & Yeti. I had the steak and shrimp meal but passed the shrimp to Eric to eat with his Dim Sum basket. We both love the food and atmosphere at Yak & Yeti and this experience was great as usual.

After "closing" AK, we made our way back to the Lodge and enjoyed hot chocolate by the tree. We also had our picture taken by the PhotoPass photographer and browsed through the Mercantile Shop.

It was almost like the old days, when our DD was young, with lights out by 9pm. We joked about being "old" as we turned out the lights but we wanted to enjoy the next day and after being up since 4am, we were dead tired!

 

[disnmooner2013]

NHKristy76 we will be honeymooning at the WL for 8 days this June and staying in the honeymoon room w/ club level. I enjoyed reading your November trip report above. Since you have had many trips to WL and Disney World can you give me some tips to make this honeymoon most unforgettable. Below is a link to my honeymoon itinerary thread. Since you are an expert especially with WL a post on my thread with your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3041090

 

[NHKristy76]

Oh boy! I totally forgot that I was in the middle of a trip report here! I started working on my upcoming multi family trip the minute we returned and lost my focus! I need to finish - we had such a magical time!

I posted on your thread. Please let me know if you have any questions - I'm sure you are going to have a fantastic time!

 

[disnmooner2013]

Thank you so much for leaving your suggestions